Monday’s Mini-Report, 6.12.17

* Afghanistan: “Three U.S. soldiers were killed and one other was wounded Saturday in eastern Afghanistan when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them, U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News. The shooter – identified as a member of the Afghan National Army’s Commando Forces – was killed in return fire, officials added.”

* 9th Circuit: “A trio of federal appellate judges in San Francisco on Monday ruled against President Donald Trump’s second try at imposing a so-called ‘travel ban’ that would restrict refugees and people from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.”

* Russia: “A wave of antigovernment demonstrations rolled across Russia on Monday as thousands of people gathered in scores of cities to protest corruption and political stagnation despite vigorous attempts by the authorities to thwart or ban the rallies. The police detained the architect of the national protests, the Kremlin critic Aleksei A. Navalny, as he emerged from his apartment building to attend a rally that he had forced into the center of Moscow.”

* Somalia: “The United States military said on Sunday that it had carried out a drone strike in southern Somalia against the Shabab, the Qaeda-linked insurgent group — apparently the first such strike since President Trump relaxed targeting rules for counterterrorism operations in that country in March.”

* There probably aren’t any tapes: “The U.S. Secret Service has no audio copies or transcripts of any tapes recorded within President Donald Trump’s White House, the agency said on Monday. The agency’s response to a freedom of information request submitted by The Wall Street Journal doesn’t exclude the possibility that recordings could have been created by another entity.”

* Should be interesting: “Bowing to pressure from Democrats, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has agreed to testify in public Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has scheduled a hearing for 2:30 p.m.”

* A story worth keeping an eye on: “New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is ‘looking into’ a charitable foundation founded by Eric Trump, a spokesman for Schneiderman said, after Forbes magazine raised questions about whether President Trump’s son had made misleading statements about how the foundation spent its money.”

* The idea floated last week about putting solar panels on Trump’s border wall? That’s not going to work out.

* And kudos to Missouri’s Jason Kander for this sarcastic gem on Twitter: “Your presidency is going really well when you’re retweeting a clip of Geraldo Rivera handicapping your chances of impeachment.”